Auntie Lindsie!!

So.. I was gone for the better part of the weekend this past week, and I guess Ann started missing me. Well, maybe.

Within this family, I have become "auntie" and Josh and become an "uncle". This is a common Ghanaian thing to do... to adopt people as family once you are close to them. There are many, many brothers, sisters, parents, children, aunts and uncles, that have no blood relations at all. They aren't "like my brother" the way we would describe it in the US. A person may actually be introduced AS their brother, or other family member. Which has posed a little bit of confusion occasionally.. but generally is kind of cool.

Anyhow, I have thus become Auntie Lindsie, to Ann and Andy. Usually I am just Auntie, but lately Lindsie has been added more and more :) This weekend though, when I was gone, Ann was watching TV, and suddenly began calling for her mom to come, insisting that her mother come. When Elizabeth came in, Ann started pointing at the TV crying "Auntie Lindsie, Uncle Josh, Auntie Lindsie, Uncle Josh!!" Apparently there were some whites on TV! and... their being white, obviously made them Josh and I. Lol. Either that, or she has translated our names into actually meaning "white girl" and "white boy". Lol. Can't resist but thinking its super funny. She was chanting for awhile yesterday around the house, just calling "Auntie Lindsie, Uncle Josh". Yay cute Ann girl.

Ghana vs. US A Matter of Faith?

Alright... might be a sin if I don't talk about the Ghana/USA game. Right? What true American, or Ghanaian, would refrain from formal commentary on the game?

This weekend I had the chance to spend Saturday afternoon through Sunday afternoon with the Accra, Ghana mission president and his wife. President and Sister Smith. Randomly enough, I didn't actually know Sister Smith's husband was the mission President! I met her a couple weeks ago at church, simply as "Sister Smith", her husband was gone that particular week. Anyhow... I'm at their home for the Ghana/USA game, which they may or may not have watched without me there. After eating a few homemade.. wonderful.. cookies, we turned on the game. Sister Smith and I both commented that, we would be happy regardless of the result of the game, but we were probably hoping just a little bit more for Ghana. After all, we're in Ghana! It would be fun to see the people and watch the Black Stars continue on to another game. Once Ghana is out of the cup, it just won't be as much fun to watch.

We learned though, that, we're not as Ghanaian as we thought. We were both cheering for the US. We couldn't handle watching Ghana score! The game was 1-1 at the finish, but as this is a single elimination round, the tie had to be broken. 30 minutes were added to the game after a 5 minute break for the players. Ghana scored right at the beginning of the 30 minutes, and we became very anxious about the USA matching the score. Alas, it was not to happen, and both Sister Smith and I couldn't believe just how truly disappointed we were. Happy for Ghana.. but really, much more absorbed in just how disappointed we were. Guess it just goes to show you that Americans.. are always Americans. As soon as the game ended we heard horns being blown outside and people celebrating. It was kind of cool, and I was happy for Ghana. :) There were apparently quite the celebrations in many of the churches around Ghana. Praising God, dancing, Ghana flags, etc. I didn't see as much evidence in the ward I attended, or on the streets, which really surprised me! Though there were a few Ghana ties being worn, I didn't hear too much more than that. This however doesn't give me much reason to doubt reports of the celebrations in other churches :)

This morning on the radio commented on Ghana's win, certainly giving the credit to God. They are such a faithful and God-loving people. There were many many prayers for the Black Stars. My bible study group Saturday morning was just a very small part. When I say they were prayed for... they weren't part of a prayer just saying "and please bless the Black Stars." No,... this is like,.. an entire prayer dedicated to the soccer team. :) The radio announcer told a story of a Ghanaian in the US, who asked an American about the game, who knew that they had lost, but then immediately asked about the Celtics vs. Laker game. (How are the playoffs going by the way??? Someone update me!) The announcer was appropriately shocked that the Americans don't even treat the World Cup as being at least as important as the Lakers Celtics game?? The country that wanted this game the most is the one that should have (and did) win. God looked and saw that, if Ghana won, the praise would be His. The large nation who didn't care, vs the small nation who were praying for their team and who would turn the glory to God. In this view, God chose to bless the Black Stars and lead them to victory! A small insight into the faithfulness and God loving attitudes of the Ghanaian people. Go radio!

Ghana plays next against Uganda on Friday! Time to pray some more! Go Ghana, Go Black Stars!

Nothing Better than Monday Morning!

I have to admit, there is nothing in the world better than Monday morning in Ghana. This morning I woke up at 5 (no alarm) took some extra time to get ready, shaved (not speed-style.. always a luxury) and it was basically a typical morning.

The kids were especially good in the car this morning, and Josh's conversation with Manasseh in the car wasn't one we disagreed on! (Usually Josh doesn't know when I disagree with a particular point made in these conversations, I just listen. :) )

I was also blessed to have the "Naman song" stuck in my head.. or maybe its spelled Naaman. This song, a primary bible song, is one that I learned from Ann last week. Here it is, because I just can't help but share it. "and his name was naaman, and his name was Naaman, and he dipped and he dip and he dip and dip and dip and dip (til you say 7 dips) and he came out whole!" Now, apparently when singing this song, you have to kind of bounce and lower yourself as you say each 'dip' and then on the word 'whole' you jump up and throw up your hands! I have yet to see these actions really incorporated, we've only sung it in the car.. but this song is addicting! I am positive I've sung it in my head several dozen times over the weekend. This morning was no different... the song has been running through my head forever!

Aside fromt he Naaman song, Monday morning... means getting emails! I turn on my computer, pray for good internet reception - which is usually best in the morning - and open hotmail! Today's inbox posted a very beautiful bold (9). Now... I know, as I see that very beautiful and large number, that I don't really have 9 emails. But... I also know, with a number as large and beautiful as that, that they aren't all junk either. Some of them have to be real. 4 real emails. :) This is in no way meant to chide, or be against anyone who wasn't part of those 4 emails, but thank you to those who are one of those 4 emails!

Reading emails, laughing out loud at people's comments, then checking facebook and laughing at things there.... its just a wonderful feeling. I am grinning ear to ear as I read and enjoy the little stories, thoughts, and experiences. Junior and Josh are discussing the tragic fall of England in yesterdays game (it was tragic by the way... 4:1 loss to Germany. England got schooled.) Josh and I both take a little flak for the US loss, and I just can't stop smiling, ear to ear. Ya, I was disappointed in England.. but like that matters, I love Monday mornings! Nothing gonna bring down my morning. :D

Saturday Morning and Walking Asofan

Elmina Castle

Standing in Elmina Castle, the background.

In front of Elmina castle. Yay Ocean! Standing with Abbie.

St. George, or Elmina castle. Founded by the Portuguese in the 1480s. 12 million slaves passed through this very castle on their way West.

Asofan

Welcome to Asofan! Along the 'main road' heading to the highway. Note the beautiful road.. no one wants to ruin their car on that.

The road just 40 feet from our house.

The Beautiful Landscape!! This is what I think of when I think "Africa"

Alright, I am back in the office on a Saturday! At the moment I am the only one here, Emmanuel and Manasseh just left to run an errand, which means I have the internet all to myself! This has led me to try and upload more pictures, even though they may not completely 'fit' with the.. 'conversation' that we've been having. (For lack of a better description.) As you have already noted, my last blog entry also had pictures that didn't really have anything whatsoever to do with what I was writing about, so I hope your patience can hold out!

This morning I had the opportunity to get up really early! (Again.) In order to meet a missionary couple later this afternoon, I needed to leave when Manasseh left the house this morning - at approximately 6:10. Looking forward to sleeping in on Saturdays may just be a daydream that never quite comes to pass! (So far it has happened once...) Leaving at that bright and early hour we drove to a Methodist church in Mamprobi. This is the church Manasseh attends, though it is very far from his home. There are several closer, but this is the church he attended before moving to Asofan, and he prefers it due to the relations he already had with the people, but also because they hold many of their meetings in the local language of Ga. The Ga people are in and from Accra, and is predominant in the area where the church is. Twi then is a language that represents more of the country; kind of a .. more communal local language. Then English is the official language of the country, so schools, paperwork, etc. are all conducted in English.

We attended a bible study class at the church. The members are in groups of about 20 or so, and each class studies from a weekly bible study handbook. Our group only had 5 members this week! We studied a few verses from Deuteronomy and a few from Malachi. The lesson was titled "The Family Altar". It was basically focused on how we can teach our families. From what I could kind of pick up, people generally have 'private time' in which they may pray or study scriptures, and then more of a family sense-group time. The teacher explained that, in order to make sure his wife had her private time, they weren't having group time. It was kind of a different way of thinking of the concept. I guess I just think... you have family stuff or not.. not thinking that the time frame may literally be taking from personal time.

After our class, we ended with a prayer. However, praying for the Black Stars in their soccer game was foolishly left out of the prayer. After this was pointed out, another prayer was offered for the Black Stars. (Ghana soccer team.) It definitely made me smile, and kept me smiling through the prayer, but was something I could support praying for.

Alright, backtracking a little bit.. and moving on to some of the pictures! Three of the pictures were taken from a couple nights ago. (Last night, Friday night, was spent back at home relaxing, and watching the Lion King on TV! The humor.. and annoyance of watching movies here is that, even when watching them on TV, the sound track gets thrown off just a few seconds from the images... so you hear the words, and watch them spoken a few seconds later... it gets kind of annoying.)

So, back to a couple nights ago, Josh and I left the office early to go see someone's shop they had used a loan to improve. He had put in a display counter, some really nice doors, painted the shop, and put in a tile floor. The shop looked great! After watching Josh discuss some marketing and product ideas with Frank (the shop owner) we headed for home. This landed us at the house much earlier than anyone else. Since the gate has a padlock on it... we were stuck sitting right outside the house with nothing to do. So we locked up the car and went for a walk around Asofan! I haven't had a chance at all to walk Asofan, and was excited to do so. I've wanted to take the one landscape-type picture since we got here. Its a view I don't see very often either... usually in the house, which involves... not seeing anything past the wall. Or at home. Even in the car I'm working with Elizabeth to manage the two little kids who are just being held in arms, or playing.. or worse, crying. This particular view though... is exactly what I thought of when I thought of Africa before coming. Rolling hills, colored homes dotting the landscape.. I don't know.. its just exactly what I pictured. I have a feeling this idea came from the movie Hotel Rwanda. After taking my long-awaited picture, we walked to Asofan station - where the taxis come in. Kind of a 'central' location in Asofan, which is a very small community.

There we stopped at a movie shop and I bought some movies! All on one disk, with the script all written across the bottom (I forget what that's called at the moment..) I got the like 6 Disney movies! Oh the comfort of having Disney at your fingertips. Of course, in order to fulfill Murphy's law, the first movie I watched part of, the Lion King, was the one on TV the next night!

We finished our walk by going to visit a client who runs a school. Christianna Amarh. She walked us through the fence from her home, to the school. There are 300 students ranging in age from 2 years old to 16. There are 15 teachers and Christianna who run the school. She is a very busy woman! She gets loans from Kingsbridge to help meet budgets between her family - her husband is deceased and she has 8 children, running the household generally, and running the school. After talking for awhile, Josh and I are thinking we could get some obroni (whites..) who would be willing to volunteer at the school. We're hoping to set up some kind of program where the intern... or.. volunteer.. pays for their own airfare, but once they are here volunteer at the school and receive free room and board. Christianna really likes the idea, and we're thinking it wouldn't be hard to find a willing supply of American students looking for just such an opportunity. I felt kind of torn talking about bringing in computers, etc. because it is so easy to hear the learned... I hesitate to say.. helplessness. Christianna was explaining to us that if whites come, they will get sponsored for all kinds of things. Basically, they will be taken care of and given everything. I want her to have a successful school, and for the students to have every opportunity open to them, but I cringe a little to hear that, once you have a white on your side, its smooth sailing from there. I'm not sure quite where I personally stand on this idea.. its still kind of trying to settle down in my mind. Bringing volunteers though I think would be a good opportunity. And... I think this may have opened an opportunity for me personally to be able to work in the school for a few days toward the end of my internship!! Which would be great.. I would love to get in a school for a few days here!

I should probably add that this is a private school, not public. I really want to know more about how their school system works, but overall don't have too much of an idea. Talking to Christianna the biggest difference between private and public schools is the classroom size. Her classes are roughly 25-30 students apiece. The public schools can get classes as large as 80 students. This is solely from her report, and I'm not sure how wide-spread these huge classes are.. but I couldn't believe it! 80 students. I'm looking forward to learning anything more about the education system I can.

So, that was my night of walking around! Topped off with half a dozen mosquito bites... all on my left foot. Is there any reason mosquitos would prefer your left to right foot? Well, there it is. (And for any who are concerned, yes I am taking my anti-malarial medication.. and this probably doubled the number of mosquito bites I have received here - remember, I was just coming home from work, didn't plan on being out without bugspray!)

This is it for my entry! I'll post this one and maybe start another if I have time..

Ghana Soccer

A good view of what is happening.

Being scared with Paddy.

Me with the Abomosu interns.

Alright, there are obviously a plethera of stories to go along with the weekend, where these pictures are all coming from, but alas! Only so much time to tell them! Haha. Yes, there are some stories, but mostly its just explaining what things are.

(Sidenote : I was just distracted from my writing by a charliehorse that decided to land upon my leg, causing discomfort.( After reacting, Emmanuel looked at me questioningly. I told him I had a charliehorse -- and he knew what it was!! Go for people who know English here.. they even know the word charliehorse! .... after considering the impressiveness of Emmanuel knowing the word "charliehorse" especially considering that I'm supposed to be helping him learn English.. I asked Ivy if she knew what it was. She won't believe me that the word is even English! and has apparently never heard it before.

Before I even get to the tales of the weekend, I must, absolutely MUST comment on the World Cup!! Ghana and the United States are both moving on to the next round!!!! Both did it with a lot of work, and a bit of luck. I have no idea how soccer-y my readers are, but I should give a short description here of how things are done. (Mind you, 99% of what I have learned about soccer has been in the past 2 weeks. Previous to arriving in Ghana I have watched a few soccer games with city leagues, and only one professional game. EVER.)

The World Cup begins with a few games that don't count toward anything in particular, and are called 'friendlys'. Then you begin the first round of tournaments, there are several brackets of teams, each made up of 4 countries. These 4 countries all play each other - resulting in 3 games for each team. Based on the results of the game, points are given. A win is 3 points, tie is 1 point for both teams, and a loss is 0 points. At the end of the 4 games, each team totals these points, and the highest two scores pass on to the next round. If there is a tie, it is broken by whomever has the most goals scored in the series. Ghana won their first game against Serbia, and Germany schooled Australia. (3 points Germany and Ghana.) Germany was certainly looking the strongest, and the Auzzies looking like pansies.

Second round of games was Ghana vs. the Auzzies, and Serbia vs. Germany. Anticipated results : Germany wins, Ghana wins. Actual results : Ghana and Auzzies tie, Serbia wins. Scores : Ghana 4, Serbia 3, Germany 3, Australia 1. Not too pretty, because Ghana's last game is against Germany! The hardest team.

Final games : Ghana vs. Germany, and Serbia vs. Australia. Serbia is automatically assumed to win Australia, putting them to 6 points, and definitely going on. That leaves Ghana and Germany to compete for the second position. Germany requires a win, Ghana can move ahead with a tie or a win. Ghana... did not start off well. Like 3 corner kicks for Germany in the first 15 minutes. Bad, very very bad sign. It takes quite awhile before a score, but Germany scores first. Ghana never pulls out a goal. Ghana is losing with 20 minutes left of the match, and they keep throwing away the ball to top it off. But, a happy announcement comes from the TV. Serbia is losing... Australia is winning!! 2-0 for Australia with 20 minutes left! The Auzzies could save Ghana!

Turns out, this is precisely what happens. The Australians prove themselves after a horrible start, surprising everyone. With an Australian win, and Ghana's loss to a much more impressive Germany... the scores total the following : Germany 6. Ghana 4. Australia 4. Serbia 3. The tie breaker of goals scored goes to Ghana - and we make it through!!! One would hardly have known that Ghana lost their match for the excitement caused by Australia winning their match. Elizabeth came in yelling from the other room when the radio officially announced that Ghana would be moving on to the next round. She then proceeded to dance around the room chanting about Ghana moving on! There was a lot of excitement around the house!

What can add to this excitement you ask? Why, the USA of course. The US, after facing somewhat similar circumstances, finds themselves moving forward too!! Ghana and the US, as well as the other winners from our brackets - Germany and Britain - will be playing each other this weekend! US vs. Ghana. From where Josh and I sit.... we've already won the match this weekend. We have to support the US, they're our country! and we have to support Ghana - that's where we're living! If the USA wins... we will be very very happy. If Ghana wins... we might even be just a little bit more happy. (Reasoning: Ghana is the only African country left! We're in Ghana - if they win... we get to enjoy the festivities! Finally, the rest of the games just won't be as much fun when Ghana isn't in!)

Ghana is the only African country that has moved ahead, pushing it to center stage for the entire continent, and the Ghanaians are very excited about it. The radio today was even talking about the game last night in a very positive way. "They acted like a unit" and all kinds of positive remarks, despite the point that they lost the game! Yes, excitement for moving ahead, but its funny to see it permeate the discussion of the game itself. If Australia had lost the game the way everyone was expecting... the radio would have been filled with how poorly the Ghana offense played last night. The Australia vs. Serbia game is actually playing today! Haha, I suppose Ghana wanted to watch the game that got them into the next round. Anyhow, Josh and I are in the great position of winning no matter who wins or loses this weekend, and having a team to support in the round after that. (The coming round is single elimination.. so one or the other will be going home.)

Well, half time has past, and its time for me to go! So, enjoy the pictures of Cape Coast and I'll have to write about it later :)

20 Minute Break!

I just now went to buy phone credits for the weekend, and possibly to escape the office for a little while ;) This little task turned into a cool and relieving opportunity to have some time to myself for awhile, and just relax. I walked down through this little market area right behind the office. Someone called me obruni and I called them obebeni back (not an expected response) and they seemed to be very proud of me and kept saying a couple more things as I kept walking. Then just walking through the market in general gives you chances to say hi and how are you to people, etc. The pathway between the stalls is pretty small, so you are always close to people and usually they want to get your attention, even just a bit.

I was going to buy my credits from a guy I met last week, but he wasn't there… his little stand was empty. So I decided to walk the long way back and find some other card selling people (they are everywhere... really. Lol, I need to add one part to that … everywhere, except by the home I live in.)

I just walked down like 2 or 3 streets I haven't been down, but are literally the equivalent of walking 'around the block' that I work on. I got to say hello to people, talk with the little kids, a bit. I met a girl named Abigail. She is 10 and in 4th grade, she 'helped' me find another place to buy credits. (I could already see the stand.. but she decided to help me) she has 3 little brothers who walked with me for a moment asking where I was going (which initiated her decision to help me get there). On the left turn that would return me the street of my office, some more kids said hi, so I said hi back, which actually started a conversation with a woman running a shop who said she likes my 'style” – aka – the style of my dress. I don't know how this style would be any different than what you could find anywhere.. but that's ok. J Her friend was semi translating as I spoke English and my little bit of Twi. The first woman suggested that she would teach me Twi, and then I could teach her English. Leaving her shop, I noticed another shop with soccer balls!! I stopped to buy a soccer ball (the interns up north promised one to someone). I talked with the man who owns/runs the shop and was able to kind of have a conversation about the soccer games that have been going on! It was cool to have something that only a few words can convey.

I think I’ll walk down that street more often…

The Rest of the Dress Story

Alright,... so my dress has now been to the seamstress several times, gone through several stages of.. well, being a piece of fabric, being sewn, and now being fixed. The boys came late to work (Josh wasn't feeling well, but don't worry, he's better now) and so they picked up my dress for me. When we got home, I took my dress and went to see if now.. somehow.. I can actually wear it!

Go in, put on dress, show everyone, be happy. Simple process. This time I actually made it through a few steps! I got in the dress.. still a little difficult by myself, but manageable. I can wear my dress!!! This dress fitting though, is not quite finished with teaching me about getting dresses from scratch. This lesson says : when they widen the waist to let you in, instead of extending the zipper like 3 inches... you lose the body of the dress! It fits, it looks reasonable, but extending my waist was in reality the last thing the dress needed. It was made perfectly the first time - if the zipper had been long enough to let me in. A few extra inches around your waist isn't the biggest deal ever, aside from the little thought in your head saying.. "but this dress was literally tailored to fit me" .. but once you get past that little detail, you know, its manageable. This detail is a bit more manageable though for people who may be a little more curvaceous* than me. Women who are curvaceous don't need things to be quite as fitted to avoid looking.. like it doesn't have a shape. Lol, I am not one of those women. So, the dress is done, I'm actually wearing it even as I type (it is African wear Friday!). It fits, has a few spare inches around the waist that will simply be part of the dress until I get home and find some willing person to pull in the waist and extend the zipper. :)

Special Lunch

Wow! Today was a little bit of a Western world experience! Early this afternoon we were picked up by Stephen Abu’s driver. We were later than expected so Stephen met us and we went on a couple errands with him. First we went to the Supreme Court to get some papers notarized to help a family adopt a little girl! Then he had an errand to the embassy, but we decided to stop for lunch first!

Lunch.. was an especially good treat. We went to a restaurant called Southern Fried Chicken. This place had a lot of foreign food – even Indian and Lebonese!! The treat we decided to go for though, was pizza.

They had about 40 different topping combinations. As we were reading, we came across one that mentioned ‘garlic’. This particular word seemed to have a hypnotizing feeling, and nothing without garlic on it could have possibly satisfied us. Garlic was only available on that one pizza. Garlic, onions, and peppers. What kind of pizza is that? How could we eat a pizza with no meat on it when we finally have meat (that isn’t chicken) that we can trust?? So, despite our wide variety of choices, we decided to be annoying Americans; we asked for another flavor of pizza, with garlic added on top :D we had pepperoni, salami, ham, and garlic pizza. (for… roughly $2.25 more. A high price, but one we were willing to pay.) The pizza was wonderful. We haven’t had real cheese here either, so there were quite a few things we’ve been missing. More important than anything else though, was that blessed garlic. Now why would the garlic be such an occasion, you ask? Well, because Ghanaians believe in one flavor. No, really. One. They use the same flavor for their jollof rice as their soup, chicken, stews, sauces, anything that isn’t naturally flavored, is flavored with the exact same flavor. It’s a spicy flavor, .. It seems like it is made of ginger and nutmeg in it, but I don’t remember the last ingredient. (Elizabeth makes hers from scratch, and told me how she makes it.) This means having any other flavor, garlic, BBQ, lemon pepper, onion, tomato, cheese, alfredo, marinara, taco seasoning, gravy… any of it, would be amazing right about now.

Me and Andy

Comment on Soccer

So.. there is probably no excuse that would allow any Ghanian to forgive me if I didn't write about the World Cup! Ghana is a country that loves their soccer - just like everyone else in the world, except the Americans. The Ghana Black Stars won their game on Saturday!!!!! 1-0 to Serbia. The goal was scored on a penalty kick, but we'll take it. Ghana is way excited about it, especially because the general opinion of the world was that Ghana wasn't much of a threat. (This due to their admittedly poor game with Holland before the tournament officially began.)

Soccer games play each day now at work, decreasing work by 50% or more.... off of an already very lax attitude toward efficiency... :)

Also, the AMERICANS TIED with ENGLAND!!!!!! This, was a very very significant occurrence.The final score was 1-1. Everyone expected England to wipe the field with us! They are a very good team.. they can penetrate downfield quickly and have a strong attack! Fortunately, the American defense had some pretty darn impressive moves to combat it. The word of the night in description of the American defense was "scrappy". Junior was hoping just for the US to score against England; being able to keep them down to one. They were very disappointed, and we were very happy.

Along with all this soccer watching is the same 4 commercials that play every game. I'm trying to find them online, why would a company not post their commercial on youtube? That is a question beyond me apparently, but I don't understand. While I have yet to find the commercials that are playing here, if you replayed the World Cup theme song about 70 times a day, you would have a feeling of living in Ghana right now. Fortunately, I like the song, a lot. If you for some reason have not heard it (ok, let's be honest, if I were in the US right now, I would not have heard it) then listen to it!! here's the youtube link -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CxWX1yGcsHQ

Listen, love it, enjoy.

My Ward in Ghana

The church is such a wonderful organization! This week I attended yet another new ward (first week was the Jonestown branch, second week visiting in Abomosu, third week attended a Methodist meeting). This ward meets by the temple (same place as the Jonestown branch) and was a boost to my spirits today. The first branch I attended with was quite small, and while one woman did talk with me for a few minutes, I certainly felt like a stranger. The blessing of a ward who is open and inviting is huge. No wonder the prophets urge us to befriend each other. To reach out to new members of the ward. I now feel like I have a ward family here, and look forward to meeting with these brothers and sisters again.

Today was quite an unusual day in the ward. It started with having 8 confirmations. EIGHT!!! Most of them were sisters, and dressed in white dresses with simple designs. This ward was just split, and is continuing to grow – but even the ward itself commented that 8 confirmations in one day was a new experience. Beyond many new members, there were so many Obroni!! (Non-black, we interpret it as ‘white’, but really they include Asians, Latinos, Europeans… anyone not black.) There is a very young couple with a little boy who work at the US Embassy, a mother and daughter who moved to Ghana with their husband/father’s work and plan to be here for several years, a missionary, and I think 8 couple missionaries/temple presidency. It was very strange to have so many whites. Interestingly enough, the strangest phenomenon of having so many whites was actually the little boy (probably 6-9 months). Occassionally we see whites.. but they are always adults. The sight of a white child was just so unusual. Even to me. I guess I’ve adapted to the ‘black everywhere’ idea much much more than I had thought. I am still surprised at how everyone here is black, it just seems like too much… yet when I see whites they just don’t seem to fit in the picture anymore either!

After sitting with one of the sister missionaries, talking between meetings, sitting with the mother and daughter in relief society, and talking after church – I have a number of contacts and friends.

The relief society president – Peggy – is actually the sister of Stephen Abu, the family the Abomosu interns are living with. This means I have already met Peggy, and actually talked with her through a 2 hour car ride to Abomosu. I was surprised that of all wards, I was in hers! She is very sweet, has two young boys (… 10 and 7? ish?) and it felt so wonderful to recognize a local! I wasn’t very trusting of my senses initially, but there she was.

Sister Smith is the sister missionary I sat next to during sacrament meeting. She once lived in Utah, and knows Farmington! (Such a simple, but good feeling.) She is on what sounds like her second mission in Ghana. We now both have each other’s contact information, and I am invited to stay at their apartment on weekends. The apartment is just a block or so from the temple, but it would be so wonderful to do things with some of the women of the church. This gives me a great alternative to going out with ‘the guys’ on the Friday nights that we stay in Accra. She also explained where I can buy more Book of Mormons! (Sorry for anyone who is concerned about where the “S” is on that phrase..) I brought my quad, and then the single Book of Mormon that I gave out a week ago. I’ve been missing having a Book of Mormon separate from my quad.. and may be hoping to get the chance to give out another.

The mother and daughter, Tina and Brooke, were actually visiting the ward as well. They live in Kenyasi, close to the gold mines. Tina’s husband works for the mines and is teaching local talent the ins and outs of his job. They have been here a year and a half and anticipate being here a few more years. They only come to Accra once every couple of months, so I was very lucky to catch them! After today’s meetings, I have been invited to come and stay with them for a weekend. To see Kenyasi and some of the Western Region, and of course spend some time with some Americans. I told them I would bring up a brownie mix and chocolate chips J The only challenge now is finding out how to get there…. lol.

As a side note, there is a lesson I keep learning – well, have been learning for the past 6 months – about judging people by their age. Its absolutely ridiculous! We all have so much in common and should be able to relate and be friends with people of any age, and not doubt their abilities too much. My high school students were fantastic and brilliant students. They have great ability, and there is no reason to try and hold them back. Also, women who are older than us share so much. When the end of the day comes, life is life. We all get up in the mornings, go to work on our daily tasks, try to help those we love, face trials and frustration, and try to move on through life the best we can.

Rose is the final ‘new friend’ to talk about. We spoke after all the meetings while I was waiting for a ride. She learned I am giving loans here through a company, and told me about a grand venture she is doing. She has done microloans in Tanzania before – creating small groups of individuals to give loans to, and help them to improve their lives. (I don’t think that she recognizes this as micro-finance.. at least it didn’t sound like it.) She tells me that when she came back to her own country, she realized how much poverty there is here in Ghana, and wanted to do something about it. She and her husband have created a women’s center of sorts. Its goals include improving women’s health, women’s rights, economic support, and education. They have done breast cancer screenings and education, have made washable sanitary napkins, taught general hygiene, and take any experts they can get their hands on to help teach business practices, and specifically how to improve farming techniques. The surrounding villages are begging Rose to take her program to them, but she simply can’t afford it. These women live out very far from Accra, on the Western border of Ghana, and they do farming. The center has provided all kinds of equipment to help process the foods. From knives to peel, to who knows what goes into making gyree. The women simply bring their raw product, and then put it through the processing, and then can sell it. (This is a huge benefit to even thinking of doing this by hand… which would take away time from beginning the next planting.) One of the biggest problems facing them is that once the food is processed, they have to wait until all the food is sold until they can buy more goods to start the next planting. (Sounding familiar? This is exactly what most people Kingsbridge works with struggle with… except they don’t have to wait an entire planting season to earn their money back to pay a loan.) Rose is trying to fix that problem by selling their goods for them, and possibly loaning them a little bit of money to get started on the next round. The problem is now to Rose. How does she sell all of this gyree? (No real idea what gyree is by the way… except that it sounds like it is made with cassava.) She has to wait for people to come to her and buy it. What they really need, what I’m sure MANY Ghanaians are needing, is transportation of goods. Which is very very difficult on the poor roads, and without a vehicle cannot move the goods anyway. (An example of the roads : her center is roughly 270 kilometers away from Accra – 168 miles. It takes them 8 hours to drive there. Under US roads.. this would take about 3 hours.) This season is especially difficult because it is the rainy season, making the roads even worse. She needs a car. I don’t think there is any way she would be able to get a loan big enough for a car from Kingsbridge. It would simply be too expensive. A car would cost roughly $4,000. They have taken out a loan of that size before, actually even larger, but took 2 years to pay it off.. not something Kingsbridge is likely to add to their portfolio – additionally because the center is so far away making repayment, monitoring, and consulting difficult. Rose told me I will be coming home with her a week from next Sunday to her home – where she will show me pictures of the center, and tell me more about what they do. I’m very interested, but very at a loss to do much to help. Their heavy equipment has all been from donations (from the church, a group within the United Nations, and one other…) and the experts have been paid to come teach by one of these institutions, or come by volunteer. I’m hoping to look at the financial end of exactly what is happening.. and seeing if we can improve business in some way that can allow her to expand. She takes no pay but does this as charity work with her husband. I look forward to learning more.

Remember My Dress?

A couple of week ago, I bought a wonderful piece of fabric here in the office. (And by I bought, I actually mean that Ivy bought it for me :) .. ) That very day on the way home from work we stopped by a seamstress, she measured me, I picked out a dress style that I liked, and we were off. Finally, the day came to pick up the dress!! Elizabeth picked it up yesterday on her way home from work.

I swear its made of a different fabric than I dropped off (not really, I just forgot the colors.. sorta) but it was my dress!! And kind of African-feeling. She handed me the dress and urged me to go try it on. That didn't take too much encouraging.

Now, in my room. Get in the dress. Make sure it doesn't need adjustments. Wear it tomorrow to work. Awesome plan. Except I never even got to step 2! I couldn't get in this dress. Looking at the dress, both Elizabeth and I were concerned it may be a little big.. and here I can't even get in it. The zipper goes down the back.. but ends a few inches above my waist. This means that the very skinniest point of the dress... doesn't include the zipper! Stepping into the dress I can't pull it over my waist, pulling on the dress I can't get it over my shoulders! What a silly problem.

I step out and all I can say is "I can't get it on" -- now what do you say to that? What? you can't get it on? what do you mean? is it too small? Elizabeth came in to then help me get in this dress. When you put your arms up over your head.. you can make your shoulders smaller! Surely this should work (leaving no thought to getting back out of the dress that is.) Nope, no such luck. So... my very first dress literally tailored to me, doesn't work. But, the good news is it's an easy fix! They just need to lengthen the zipper, and the zipper is already a few inches longer than was sewn in. :D

So... there is the story of my dress. How sad. Hopefully it will get fixed quickly. If I can I'll wear it on Sunday, but if not I may wait til next Friday. Friday's are 'African wear' day. According to Manasseh, this is true throughout Ghana, or at least Accra. I honestly haven't noticed it yet, but I haven't been watching either.

I also made a small accomplishment! I now french braid my own hair!! Its a wonderful thing, because then its out of my face and it actually stays in. Doing my hair down here isn't much of an option between air-drying and the humidity, so this is a perfect solution. Mostly I'm just proud that I was able to do it at all! I've only tried french braiding someone's hair once before - back in high school sometime or another Kate tried to teach me on Jackie's hair - and it wasn't very successful. So, with that as my track record, I was able to do it on myself!!! Anyhow.. that's it.. simple, but something I'm proud of.

Work.. ok, so work for a little over a week, has been modifying excel documents. I was given the task of calculating how much interest income we earned from each loan payment made to us during the week. This spurred the beginning of working through every excel sheet this company uses, adding equations, and saving hours and hours of work for some poor person to do. For any who are laughing - I totally submit - I am NOT the person to ask about any kind of technical computer things, programming, or math, or finances, or all the sheets I'm working on. :) All of my excel training is contained in one single class I took this last fall. :) Yay me!

Unfortunately, because I am adding so many things, this is requiring all of the right information before its all entered into a new system. This has inspired a totally different problem/set of tasks. I'm hoping there isn't too much of this in the future, but I'm going through our 2008 records. Recording susu payments, doing bank reconciliations... ya... and it really is just that much fun. Haha, like I said, hopefully this stage will end soon.. and we may just be ditching the 2008 bank reconciliations. Again, for any who are laughing at my apparent inability to do such work, I am doing it! I'm not pro, and its not fun, but its work, its going to make this company better, and much, much more efficient.

Alright, time to leave for the day! Got to get home in time for the 2nd game of the World Cup. France vs. Uruguay. (After watching the tie between South Africa and Mexico.) Have a great weekend!

Death Traps and Cho-Chos

So, in the past week I have had the opportunity to try riding in taxis, and cho-chos. Cho-chos are basically 12 passenger vans that are now designed to hold... about 19 people. Apparently the spelling is "trotro" ... but you pronounce it chocho. :)

They are used like buses, picking people up and dropping them off, but they act a bit differently. The biggest difference, and the one I don't think many Americans could handle, is that they do not arrive or leave on any kind of schedule. If you go to an area that is sort of a 'hub' and not just a drop off point, then the chochos will wait unti they are full.... So on my first adventure, we loaded onto the chocho, and waited... and waited... and waited... Waiting for 18 people can take a long time! Once the chocho was loaded, we pulled out and headed toward our destination. Maybe... 20 minutes later we arrived at our destination. You pay once the chocho is in motion, and the students I was with were kind enough to pay my fare. Only on the ride back did I realize just how much it cost to ride one of these things. I'm sure the fare is different depending on how far you are going... but this only cost 20 pesewas... = 14 cents!!!!! You cannot get ANYTHING in the US for 14 cents! Maybe a single jolly rancher, or a tootsie roll ;) Here you can get a ride!

The other optional mode of transportation is to use a taxi. Taxis here are crazy, just like they are anywhere I suppose, but here all driving is crazy. (More comments below..) My first taxi ride was from the community we live in - Asofan, (a small area near Ofankor) to the highway to get picked up by the rest of our group. This little taxi... was lucky to still be running. I've never seen a car in such poor condition! I sat in the front, and there literally wasn't a handle on the door.. No outside door handle, no inside door handle. When we met our group, the taxi driver leaned across me and dug under the fabric to hit a little latch to open my door. Death trap for sure. I had the distinct thought that, if anything were to happen, if there were any kind of accident, I would die in this car. Amusingly enough, this did not cause alarm, but was simply a matter of fact. There was no way around it. I wish all the luck to that driver for the rest of his days, and feel better knowing that if he were to attempt to drive that vehicle on the freeway, he would be pulled over and not allowed to drive on the road.

I have been in 2 other taxis since (one of the family/company's 2 cars broke down, so we've been taking the taxi home). However, these taxis are MUCH better, and we are using taxi drivers that they already know are much safer and better drivers than the average one you may happen to pick up. :)

The driving here... is similar to driving in South America. Kind of. People honk their horns MUCH more often here, though it is rarely in anger compared to in the US. Honking can just be letting people know they should move over if they are walking in the street (they're already walking on the side, but need to move further over) or can even be to get someone's attention that they want to buy something from. People drive in any kind of space they can find - regardless of if there is a lane, if they can actually fit in the space they are trying to move into, and regardless of the road conditions on that particular space of road (unless it is especially bad.)

There are also stop signs which are always ignored, and only a few traffic lights. Due to people creating their own lanes all the time, there are frequently small traffic jams with some central point of cars all facing each other and unable to move forward. When this happens, someone will get out of their car, and direct the vehicles to move forward, turn, etc. until somehow or another, the knot works itself out, and traffic continues on.

They may not be the craziest drivers in the world - South America still holds that title in my book - but Ghanaians could manage to drive on any road in the world. No number of potholes, ravines, puddles, mudslicks, garbage piles, termite hills, goats, chickens, children, or salespeople could keep a Ghanaian from getting through a road. The roads here are horrible. That horrible dreaded scraping sound on the under side of your car is reasonably rare considering the roads, but this is only due to years of practice in spotting the one possible 'safe' route through poor roads. That is one thing I keep realizing (and have probably already even commented on) is just how big a blessing roads are! A reasonable road system would save this country so much money!!! The cost of transporting people and goods would all fall dramatically. People could have more time do actually do things other than sit in cars, taxis, and chochos their whole life. So much opportunity. The community we are living in is apparently talking about trying to pave their own roads. The government will never get to them, they aren't a main road or in the capital. And the construction that is going on is slow.

Alright, time to actually work this morning :) Hopefully I'll have more to write!

Laundry and Showers

Alright, its been awhile since I've added anything on this blog, so I think I should tell a few smaller stories.

The first is definitely about showering out of a bucket. I have this little voice in the back of my head telling me I've already written about it... but it just can't be true... The house I'm living in has running water. However, this running water all comes from giant plastic tubs outside the house. About once a month, they pay a huge truck to come fill these tanks with water. When the tubs are empty.. there is no water. With 2 more adults in the house showering every day, and using water for other daily activities, we ran out of water before it was time to get the tubs refilled! No running water, means that we get to use the rainwater collected outside in blue barrels. I don't know if I would always trust this water.. I don't usually pay attention to it, but water that's been sitting there awhile just can't be safe. Fortunately enough for me, it had just rained!! So I got a bucket, filled it with water, and headed for the shower - hoping and praying that one bucket would be enough. It would have to be enough. There was also a bowl that I could use to pour the water over my head. Now, Ghana showers are typically cool.. not freezing, but cold enough that I would be unhappy about it in the US. Here it can feel nice.. if it is a hot morning. Usually it only feels cold for the first few moments.. then it just feels cool. Anyhow, this water wasn't really colder than my typical shower here, but when you're physically pouring the water over yourself, bowl by bowl, it feels much colder!! The hardest part of showering with a bucket is washing your hair... actually, its just getting your hair all wet in the first place. Once that much was accomplished it was a pretty simple process. And I didn't even use the whole bucket! Apparently one can wash themselves with a very small amount of water.

This very small amount of water (I have little point of reference to guess at how many gallons this would be.. I think its smaller than the 5 gallon buckets..) seemed even smaller after I did some laundry yesterday! They do have a washing machine - and by this I mean a very small machine that you pour water into, and pour in soap, add 6-7 articles of clothing and it spins it for 5-10 minutes. Then you get to do the rinse cycle by hand, wring out the clothes, and then hang them out to dry. I only had a couple things to wash, and decided to just wash it by hand. Honestly, adding the whole washing machine step isn't worth it when washing 2 articles of clothing. So, I pulled out the bucket, and washed my stuff in the bucket. Creating my own washing, rinse, and drying cycles. This small activity took far more water than washing myself! (2-3 times as much water) Just an interesting new point of reference...

Time to Explain Susu

Susu is a traditional, and cultural thing here in Ghana. Probably something you wouldn't learn simply in coming to visit, but working in loans and money susu (pronounced sue sue) is very important.

In its simplest form, susu is a savings program. Each day people bring their susu (some amount of money they can afford to give) to a susu collector. The amount can vary from 1 cedi per day ($ .70) to 10 cedi $7.00) and higher. The hope or intention is to pay in every day, although people frequently miss. They turn in their susu, and the susu collector brings it all to the bank for them. In payment, the Susu collector takes one day's worth of susu for each month. The individuals can come and ask for their money from the collector at any time, and many come to collect it at the end of the month. Then they use the money to buy more inventory, or whatever they choose. so.. even though it is savings, most people, like 90+% people, are not using it for any kind of long term savings.

The question then arises - why do people even give their money to these people? Part is that they don't want to have the money from their business all at home where it may be unsafe. Also, out of sight out of mind allows people to save just a little bit every day, and then have enough at the end of the month to purchase their next batch of inventory. Second question - why pay someone to take your money to the bank for you? A lot of this is due to the small amount.. banks are large and very official institutions, and bringing in 2 or 3 cedi a day would be an embarassment.. and the banks would get annoyed with the people.

Many of the Susu collectors are now taking on the responsibility of giving small loans to those they collect from. (Again, just like our customers, usually to buy inventory to finish selling the current batch.) The loans being required of the Susu collectors are turning some of them into Kingsbridge to seek their loans. This is a new market for us, and one that we are trying to explore more.

Well That Was Easy

Work started late today, as it is Saturday and Manasseh and Elizabeth believe we need to rest, so we planned on being picked up to go to the office about 10. By the time 12:00 rolled around, someone was on their way to get us. Now the biggest reason that this was highly unfortunate is that we were supposed to have a meeting today on Microfinance, where it is going, and how Kingsbridge fits into the new development. This meeting was with a board member (1 of4) and it was now too late for us to go through all the information needed. So we talked with him for awhile, along with two others who accompanied him (friends, not tied to Kingsbridge). Josh and I received assignments to report on what we learn while we are here, specifically doing a kind of feasibility study, and growth plans for Kingsbridge’s future. It should be interesting…

Through this discussion it was mentioned that I was from Utah. After our semi-group meeting ended, one of the board member’s friends – Ben – asked if, being from Utah, I was Mormon. He apparently listens to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir nearly every morning (he has several of their CD’s, including the Christmas Program) and has visited several temples that he describes as “beautiful”. He also especially likes the song “I Believe in Christ”. He confirmed that the founder of the church is Joseph Smith, and asked if it was he that stands on top of the temples. I told him, no, it is actually angel Moroni who stands atop each temple. This drew the question – and who is Moroni? He is the last prophet in the Book of Mormon. What is the Book of Mormon, like the Bible? We believe in the Bible, but also that there is more scripture, the Book of Mormon. A family who lived with the Jews at the time of King Zedekiah received revelation to leave. They were led to cross the ocean and lived in the Americas. The Book of Mormon is a record of their prophets and revelations, just like the Bible. When Christ told the apostles that He was going to visit his other sheep, we believe He came and visited the people in the Americas. It talks about Christ’s coming. Is that before or after Christ ascended? I’m not sure… I actually have my scriptures here, we can pull it out and look at it. (Pull out Book of Mormon) We get caught looking at the pictures in the front – who is this? Joseph Smith. What is this picture? This is Lehi – the first prophet – and his family. This picture? Samuel the Lamanite. This one is Christ when he appeared to the people. This last picture is of the prophet Moroni. He looks like a native American, Yes we believe that the current native Americans are descendants from these people it talks about in the Book of Mormon. All of their prophets and apostles were killed, just like in the Middle East, and so they did not have the gospel anymore. But some of the Native American religious ideas really tie into the Book of Mormon. For example, the Aztecs believing Cortes to be Quezotcoatyl.

Can I hold it? Of course! We turn to 3 Nephi 10, where Christ appears. He starts reading through the first few verses.. I pull out my scriptures (my quad, he has my Book of Mormon from Alan) and start looking up the same to find when exactly Christ came. So is that your Bible? Yes, well, it has the Bible in the front, and Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants in the back. D&C is a record of the revelations of Joseph Smith. I’ll have to look this up when I get home. Oh, no, have this book. Really. (A debate continues of whether he can accept the book, because I have a letter in the front couple pages from Alan. We conclude that he can, and I tear out the front two pages that include the letter.) It all ended with me writing my name and email address on the title page, and I’m hoping to get an email! He is flying out of Ghana later today, headed toward home in Michigan.. I hope he decides to do some reading!

Big Religion. Big Companies.

Well, its quarter to 1 here in Accra, and I just got off the phone with my family. I’m sure my mother would be disheartened to know that this, this is the time I get the bug to write. Talking with my family highlighted even more how much I have not written for this week.

I figured I should write about my adventures at a university, M.U.C.G.’s. I actually don’t remember at all what it stands for, but I’m sure its Methodist something. It is a private Methodist university, and they teach all kinds of subjects – psychology, history, business, technology, etc. Mannasseh attended another branch of this same school for his college experience, and wanted us to meet with one of their vice principals. Again, this was one of those great times where I got to be in my ‘education’ element. I know what questions to ask, and how to relate to the people better. Even more so when the school’s have that religious touch (something nearly everything here has). Actually, I think I’ll use that tangent for a moment, because its important in understanding Ghana. There are many many religions here. Most are Christian, but I swear I’ve never seen so many churches in my life – and that’s not just due to being raised in Utah. There are the churches you would expect, Methodist, Catholic, Presbyterian (affectionately called “the Presby”), but also the Lighthouse church, Assembly of God, and then churches with Christian sounding phrases for names. (I can’t even think of any off hand.. though driving to work I’ll easily see a dozen of them.) In addition to their churches, their shops are all named after gospel words or ideas. The “love and joy store”, “Jesus Loves you Salon”, “In God we Trust” seamstress shop, “In His Hands” something or another shop… everything is focused back toward religion. And if not directly toward religion it has the word joy, love, happiness, or peace in it. Even the main radio station is called “Love FM”. Despite all of the religion around though, I have not heard many people speak specifically of their religion. I’m sure this is in part because I’m working with a business where I want to know about your financial standing, and financial goals.. but I’m not sure how widely discussed religion is.

In addition to having religious and ‘feel good’ names of everything, the politics here are very.. nice. There have been 2 small political ‘scandals’ while I’ve been here. The first was that someone compared the President to a chimpanzee. The second was that a famous rapper in the music awards made a comment that “more people listen to me than to the President”. Both remarks were met with at least half hour talk shows on the radio, people calling and texting in, frustrated that someone would be so low and rude to say such a thing about the President. Comments like “we need to sanitize our political talk” are coming out of the radio, and I just can’t believe it. Obama would be thrilled if that were all the worse he was being called by media personnel throughout the country. They have a lot of respect for free speech as well, but suggest that, you don’t need to be disrespectful about it.

Also, oil is a big new industry here. Oil companies are moving in and the people are getting nervous. Will oil actually bring money to the country? Is it creating a rich group in the center of poor villages? One radio comment was about the oil spill going on currently in the Gulf of Mexico (they are also very international about their news) and that there could be harmful effects if the oil company is too big to care about its people. A caller suggested that whomever comes in should have some list of traits.. probably only 4 requirements, but one of those 4 was that they should be God fearing. How interesting that it is such a high priority. In the US someone would laugh at hearing such a statement made with such sincerity. Here, it is part of life.

Another big company made a big step in Ghana. Google is creating a translator option into Twi. This has people excited here. Google, a huge, powerful company, cares about them. Cares about adding their language to the internet. The radio MP was pretty impressed. Google is also very smart about coming to Ghana J Last night there was a story about a 4 year old girl who has cancer in her eyes.. She has had one surgery before removing one of her eyes, and now without another surgery is not expected to live out the month. A program had been made talking with doctors, her family, etc. and shared over the radio to try and raise money. The amount needed was 3,000 Ghana Cedis. (pronounced “seedys”). This is about.. 2,200 US Dollars. Google paid the full amount, and then all the money the family raised in addition could help for past medical bills. So, for $2,200 Google has established itself as a company that cares about the individual lives of the ‘regular people’ that they serve. Big hit. Very smart.

Alright Mom, you were right. Now I should go to bed. J I’ll write about M.U.C.G.’s tomorrow. Goodnight all.

Some Pics

The choir class we visited at a local university. They sang for us. :)

The guys apartment where I had a gospel discussion! And a few other topics. It was cool!

Emmanuel and I on the railroad tracks that split this little town.

Women working in a bakery. We collect their savings for Susu.

Teaching to Type??

Today has been one of my most relaxed here. Manasseh slept in a little this morning, so the morning wasn't rushed in any way (oh, and did I mention I somehow woke up at 4? and 5?.. I got up about 5:45). Driving was slow because its raining this morning, and probably also due to the rain, we haven't seen a single client yet today. its 1 pm. we haven't done too much of anything, a little bit of paperwork.

Anyhow, the entire point of having all this free time today (which I obviously haven't been using on emails (for any who are disappointed not to have anything in their inbox) because I've been teaching Emmanuel the computer!!!!

This is an interesting experience, you just don't realize what you know, what needs to be taught. I opened up the computer, and showed Emmanuel how to go to the start button to find your program. (We chose Word). Then I showed him how to click the keys to make the computer write for you. I explained that to capitalize a letter, you have to hold down the shift button, and click the letter at the same time. Explained why you would use a question mark. That images on the top of the keys (like on the numbers) mean you have to push shift to use them. I taught him the backspace button, space button, and how to highlight words so that you can change the font, or underline the words. Now he's spent awhile practicing writing short sentences I write. Trying to write sentences with numbers, periods, question marks, and underlined sections. Anyhow, it is day one of an interesting adventure.

Haha. I just taught Emmanuel how to play minesweeper, and solitaire. Solitaire is very difficult to teach!! It seems so simple, but when its a task to move card A to card B, aside from trying to figure out how and when suits are important, vs when colors are important, and that you play in reverse order on the Aces and in descending order off of the cards below.. who would have thought this is such a complex game?

Yesterday was a new experience. We started off by going to the courts to file some cases against those who haven't paid their loans. (They defaulted 2 years ago..). The person we needed wasn't there, so Josh decided to get out of the car and kinda just chill outside. There was a man selling medicine at a small table, and Josh being himself, went and struck up a conversation with them. Eventually I joined them, and we actually had a good experience with it. He sells medicine there made by a friend of his. It sounds like its pretty effective, and compared to any american medicine.. is very cheap. Anyhow, after talking for a good half hour, we found out he needs a loan to finish his store. He was working just at a table, but he actually has a little 'container' for a shop, he just needs money to put in some shelves, etc. (A shop, or container is probably.. 7 x 7 feet or so.) After we did our work at the court, we went down to an area with a Methodist church in it that we're going to visit on Sunday. Manasseh said we should just go down and check out the area and talk to people... so we basically went there and tracted around some of Anamoso.. or something like that.

I'll have to write more later.. I'm not in a very good writing mode and the day is getting late!

I'll try adding some pictures instead..

Tuesday - Week 2

Above: Standing in a small backstreet, where the girl lives

Below: The business we visited, very small drink store

Tuesday

I did a lot of walking today! Now, typically, for me that is a very good sign. It means I got to see people, in their element, living life as it is lived here in Ghana. I see homes and shops, smile at the kids, and say ‘bebeni’ (black person) to people who call me ‘obroni’ (white person). Ok, so I’ve only said it back to people for a couple days, but I said it to one man today and I think he almost fell over. J

Unfortunately, I also choose to wear a very cute dress today, which made me choose to wear my very cute pink shoes. I was actually complimented on them by Junior, and I figured I’d be very safe wearing them. They are cute, but they do not suffice as walking shoes. Walking any distance at all results in blisters. Meaning… after walking around more today.. I’m on the verge of several blisters. That means that even now at work I’m sitting with my shoes off. But I am very happy because I get extra internet time, I’m not even remotely expected to be working right now, so I can relax, and just enjoy. Enjoy having the internet when people are online, sitting in the air-conditioning, in Ghana, after having just helped a small family to get a loan.

I realized I haven’t really introduced the people I work with. Since there are literally 5 of us, I’m thinking its probably worth just telling you who everyone is. Manasseh is the president, and is also the person we are living with. Emmanuel is our driver, neighbor, and Twi teacher. Primarily though he is our driver, he drives around to collect money, monitor clients, go to the bank, pick up lunch, and usually is the one to drive us home from work. Junior and Ivy are both employees here, they help with all the paperwork, talk with clients, help determine conditions, and help monitor clients. (Manasseh, as the President, does all of these same things), finally there is Paddy. He is our official IT guy, and is only in a couple times a week, and even then not for the whole day. That’s it! That’s our little bunch of people trying to give out micro-loans.

Also, to give a better idea of what this company actually does… People here in Ghana, don’t really have access to capital. They will buy inventory, and sell it. However, they need to get new inventory with money they don’t yet have, because they haven’t sold all of their existing inventory… if that makes sense. You sell $100 drums of oil. That means you buy several drums of oil for $70 each. You need to buy more drums because you’re inventory is running low.. unfortunately, you won’t have the money to buy more drums, until you sell all the ones you already have. That is the story for many of the people we are working with. They just need money to buy inventory. They really already have everything they need, there simply is just not any access to credit, and hardly any concept of savings accounts – assuming anyone would have significant amounts of money they could afford to save.

We take this for granted in the United States like crazy. Having liquidity and access to loans makes life so much easier! The people can’t really go to banks because they take ages to process things, and they demand collateral, credit, and a savings account at their location. Banks are just too difficult, bulky, and intimidating. Due to this problem, people need to find other places to borrow money. There are literally so many people who need loans that Kingsbridge does ZERO advertising. Any advertising would bring in more loans than they could process. Credit… it can cause so many problems.. too much = the meltdown. not enough = a helpless economy.

Due to that, we work with a lot of traders. People who are buying and selling basic inventory. Food, cloth, drinks, car parts, etc. And, most people aren’t taking out what we think of as ‘micro’ loans. The most common is 500 ghana cedis. The range of 500 – 1500 cedis is most common. (This is roughly $400 - $1200). Someone came for a 100 cedi loan – ($70) very, very unusual.

So, today.. I went to visit the head accountant of the Achimota IRS branch. (sounds pretty official, eh?) Her cousin is trying to get a loan with us, and we went to talk to her about the loan. Apparently she knows someone at Kingsbridge. She was very very nice, and definitely laughed when she heard me say ‘thank you’ in Twi. (PS thank you in Twi is “ma-da-say”). She also highlighted a few concerns that are going to help make Kingsbridge a very good choice for susu – people who do savings for groups of people. (Kind of like a mini bank… sort of.) So, fun, nice to walk around and see more.

The next several hours of my day were excessively uneventful. Hardly anyone came into the office, and I had very little to do. I was bored. Finally, hours later, a few people started coming into the office, paying their loans, turning in documents. A woman and her daughter came in – which resulted in a semi-lengthy conversation about what she wanted to take out as a loan, what she could pay without putting a burden on her or her family, etc. The woman spoke very very little English, and her daughter translated a lot for her. This woman seemed to be very pure Twi. Junior was having a difficult time expressing some things to her. Junior (as well as the others in the office, excluding Emmanuel, are Ga. The Ga’s mostly live in the south and are actually originally from Accra. They also speak Ga. And Twi. But it means that Twi is more a second language to them and it is not so refined as those who speak Twi as their first language. After setting terms both parties could agree to, we walked to the woman’s store.

The woman herself actually stayed in the office and her daughter just took us. This was apparently because she is very shy, and if you go walking around with 2 whites.. you’re going to get a lot of attention! So she stayed to avoid the stares and whatnot. I think I’m used to it now.. people mostly try to not be overly obvious about it, but you know its still happening.

Good times! Time to go! (Ghana lost their first friendly match in the world cup.. sad day. Haha, unfortunately, I'm more disappointed to lose the internet than Ghana losing.. don't tell)

Good Monday

Above: Josh and I in front of the cocoa plant nursery

Below: The countryside on our drive back to Accra.

There is still a lot to write, and I haven't said much about work, or things last week.. I suppose it helps that I have only been able to write twice in my first 9 days here. Ok, now to begin, and hopefully touch on at least most of what I was hoping to. Today (Monday night) was probably my best day of work yet! The day started well. It wasn’t really any earlier than normal, but we were picked up at Stephen’s house at 6:30am to drive into Accra and go to work. We drove with a missionary couple (the Terry’s) and found plenty to talk about. I look forward to meeting with them again in the future. The weekend really was so nice partly because of the influence of the church. The family we stayed with, as well as the four USU members there are all part of the church. Add on top of that church meetings, and a very long and good talk about God with Josh last night, and it was a good weekend.

We drove roughly 3 hours from Abomosu down to Achimota. We stopped in self named “bread town” and got two giant rolls. They tasted wonderful! I could eat one every morning. Otherwise the trip was uneventful. They were able to drop us off on the freeway, and we knew how to get to the office from there! (It is honestly less than a block, but we, and Kingsbridge, were very proud of us.) Another taste of independence. On our trip we found our way there, found 2 individuals who may qualify for loans, and found our way back, including a walk to the office. Once we got there we wanted to get something to eat or drink, and instead of having it ordered or being driven – we were shown a small shop where we could buy some juice! It is a small thing, but was very nice.. Josh and I decided to pretty much just eat fruit and bread for lunches. It is MUCH cheaper than ordering food, and honestly, we don’t need three BIG meals a day. Haha, I also learned that my stomach has been reacting to the food here – it has been getting bigger. Eating in Abomosu was sufficient, but both Josh and I could have eaten much more. (Abbie, we were fine, promise. We are just getting used to ridiculously sized meals.) I’m totally going to gain weight here! The only saving grace for my waistline is the point that it is all so dang healthy. Hardly anything here could be compared to ‘candy’ or ‘sweets’ there. No junk food except what we packed along with us.

Once at work, we learned the power was off. So, we just kind of did nothing for a little, then went to collect money with Emmanuel. This is another small, but significant to me, blessing. On the drive with Emmanuel, Josh let me sit in front, and then took a nap. I’m not sure why Josh toning down a bit helps me to open up so much, but it really does! I started practicing my Twi WAY more than normal. Learning new words and using phrases as we drove. (Usually I listen to Josh do this same thing, and only really repeat some things.) For some reason this just gave me a confidence boost. I had my own chance to learn, to discuss, and to practice. Then back at the office I went back to my quiet desk and got online (the power was back on). Josh soon needed a computer, (we didn’t have our laptops) and so I traded him seats. Now… Josh’s desk is the very first one when you walk into the office. Mine is literally along the back wall. (It is a small office.. one room that is long and narrow.) Being in Josh’s desk meant I was able to greet everyone when they walked in. I wrote receipts for loan payments, talked with a woman about her business, talked with new clients and interviewed them about their business, etc. and even when there were no clients – I would speak up a lot more. I was joking that, “I’m not really quiet, I’m just always in the back!” I think I honestly surprised everyone I work with. Yes I actually can be outgoing, confident, straightforward, and fun. J Essentially.. sitting in the front, with my confidence boost this morning from Emmanuel, and a booster from visiting Abomosu for the weekend, was the perfect combination of wonderful things. To top that all off, a woman came in to pay part of her loan, and I was able to talk to her (through Ivy translating) about her business, what was happening, where she got her goods, etc. She sells cloth (toma) and copper jewelry. I asked several questions about the cloth and learned a lot about how things are done here. Long story short I commented that I liked one of them. Ivy apparently agreed. She bargained with the woman for quite awhile and bought the cloth! It comes in 6 yard bolts (some sell it in 3.. which is much more convenient) and so that will perfectly make 2 dresses for us. So I’m going to have a new dress! On the way home from work we stopped at a seamstress here in the community. I was then shown 4 walls of dresses I could choose from… alright, for anyone who knows me.. how successful could this possibly be? I finally choose one that I thought was cute, but needed more sleeves. That apparently was not going to work. My next selection though, was a success! I was then measured for my dress. Such a new experience; and kind of exciting. Now I just have to wait for Friday to come, or maybe wait til Sunday or Monday next week, and I’ll have a new – African – dress. This is something that will happen again in the future.. J It will cost roughly $13, which I feel pretty decent about. Ivy and I are going to go shopping sometime or another, for cloth and beads.

There was a girl at the shop too, who decided to keep calling me ‘obroni’, to which I was now able to reply (after having learned in Abomosu) “bebeni” (black person). We then got in a small contest of calling each other white and black people, and was actually really fun. I am now friends with the seamstress shop J

Finally, I had the opportunity to wash clothes today. That involves putting like 6 articles of clothing into a very small washer, pouring in the water, mixing in the soap and clothes, and letting it spin for 6 minutes. After that, you wring them out, and put them in a bucket. That bucket is carried outside where you try to rinse the soap out. This for some reason seems to be the most difficult and long process of the whole event. Then as you rinse them out, a piece at a time, you find a place to hang them on the clothesline. Then you wait, presumably not forever, though my jeans I believe may take several days.. if it stays dry. Lol. Let’s pray for no rain, and low humidity.

All in all, very good day. Josh is going to have to defend that post of his… I think after seeing just how huge the change was in me from sitting in the back to the front.. Kingsbridge will feel encouraged to change. (I’m not totally silent, uninvolved, or depressed in the back ;) it is just harder to participate in the natural conversation that develops. Not sure when to go and awkwardly join, or stay, or put myself out there). I’m thinking that I will propose we trade off sitting in the front, because it opened up the office so much to me. Haha, plus it was the busiest day at the office since we arrived. Also, getting a dress. What a way to make a girl smile.